Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Kelly throws to the plate against the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning of a MLB baseball game at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

PHOENIX — In the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 9-0 win over the San Francisco Giants on June 18, Joe Kelly came in to pitch the ninth inning. He threw five four-seam fastballs to Buster Posey, missed the strike zone with three of them and walked Posey to start the inning.

Kelly hasn’t thrown a four-seam fastball since.

The veteran reliever has abandoned the four-seam fastball over his past three appearances and put his changeup on the shelf as well. Instead, he has thrown two-seam fastballs and curveballs exclusively.

“I can throw it for a strike. That’s it,” Kelly said of the move to a sinking fastball. “I feel I can throw it hard down the middle. I can’t throw anything else down the middle.

“I mean, the idea is to be able to throw strikes with the fastball. I guess it’s just throwing what’s most comfortable. … I haven’t thrown my four-seamer in awhile. I just can’t throw it over the plate. It’s not that I’m going to abandon it forever. But until it feels comfortable, I’m not going to use it very much.”

Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt probably didn’t expect to be working on a reclamation project so soon after Kelly signed as a free agent with the Dodgers. But Kelly has had to string together four scoreless appearances with his stream-lined pitch mix in order to get his ERA down to 6.15.

“Whether it’s just the feel, different arm slot right now, whatever … truthfully we just wanted him to think about fastball command,” Honeycutt said. “Two-seamer, four-seamer, whatever you’re able to control that day and then work from there.

“His stuff is filthy. It’s just about getting it in the (strike) zone. The curveball is unhittable when he puts it where he wants to. So basically we told him let’s stay away from the changeup right now and just concentrate on the fastball-curveball right now. The results have been pretty encouraging.”

Over those past four appearances, Kelly has held opposing hitters to a .176 average (3 for 17) with six strikeouts and two walks and hasn’t allowed a run.

“I think last year this happened in Boston. He was pitching out of the ‘pen like he was a starter,” Honeycutt said of Kelly, who spent his first four seasons in the majors primarily as a starter. “They had him two-seaming and they had him four-seaming. They had him throwing a slider. They had him throwing a curveball. They had him throwing a changeup.

“Out of the ‘pen … how are you going to command five pitches? You never get a chance to use all of them. You don’t get that opportunity in any game to really get work like that. So my understanding is what got him more efficient last year was – take away the two-seamer, take away the slider. So he went to four-seam, curveball, changeup. Obviously that helped him at that time. So right now, we’re going to define it a little more. The stuff is there. No matter what he throws it’s all electric. So it’s about the command.”

FRESH PRINCE

In order to clear a roster spot for Wednesday’s starter Tony Gonsolin, the Dodgers optioned catcher Will Smith back to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Smith has hit .269 (7 for 26) with three home runs (two walkoffs) in nine games with the Dodgers over two promotions.

“That was a tough one,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We had to make a move. Obviously it wasn’t performance-based. Where he’s at in his career, just playing every day has value. And you can argue being in the big leagues certainly has value as well. For us right now, that just won out. But in the near future and going forward, he’s certainly a part of what we’re doing.”

At the same time, Smith was named to the Pacific Coast League All-Star team along with OKC reliever Kevin Quackenbush. The 30-year-old Quackenbush is a former big leaguer who spent parts of the past five seasons with the Padres and Reds. In 31 appearances at OKC this year, he is 1-2 with a 3.22 ERA and three saves.

The Triple-A All-Star Game is scheduled for July 10 in El Paso.

Left-hander Tony Cingrani was moved to the 60-day Injured List to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Gonsolin. Cingrani had shoulder surgery and is not expected to pitch this season.

ROTATION SHUFFLE

After getting an extra day off before his start Monday, Clayton Kershaw will start on regular rest Saturday in Colorado. Kenta Maeda will move back a day and start Sunday instead.

Walker Buehler and Hyun-Jin Ryu are scheduled to start the first two games of the four-game series.

Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.

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